Tea, beauty, life, and whatnot

green tea

Earlier this month I had a birthday and one thing that people know I will always appreciate for my birthday is tea. Because my mother knows me very well, she got me a pack of jasmine tea because I love jasmine. I don’t tend to drink a lot of flavored teas, with the notable exception of traditional flavors — so Earl Grey, the occasional masala chai, and floral-scented green and oolong teas. And rolled jasmine green tea is a particular favorite.

Adagio Teas is probably the way I first got really into loose-leaf tea. I do remember visiting Teavana when one opened in a nearby shopping mall, but instead of buying there, I went home and opened up our newfangled internet machine to search “The ‘Web” for a way to find even more high-quality teas. I stumbled upon Adagio and first learned the joys of loose leaf tea. These Jasmine Phoenix-Dragon Pearls might have even been in my first order because I found the name romantic and lovely, and even as a teenager preferred deep floral scents to the typical light scents favored by my peers.

But since then, I’ve moved beyond the one-stop shopping experience of Adagio Teas, so they don’t often feature in my rotation when I decide what to review. So because it seems appropriate for early spring, I thought I’d add some florals to my tea reviews. You know, for spring.

The Adagio Teas Jasmine Phoenix (also called Dragon) Pearls are described as hand-rolled young tea leaves and buds, scented with jasmine. They are delicate and pretty to look at, with some variation in the color of the leaf, as well as a few white jasmine buds sprinkled in to enhance the look of the dry tea. When they steep, you can watch them unfurl into small leaves. The jasmine scent, particularly of the first infusion, is heady, and I find that it does best when it’s steeped for about a minute at first, and then as little as possible on subsequent infusions, until the strength of the tea settles down a bit.

The brewed tea, if not allowed to oversteep, is luscious and almost sweet-tasting. It smells heavily of jasmine, but also of the vegetal notes of good-quality Chinese green tea. While the first steeping will always have the strongest flavoring for any scented tea, this tea maintains a respectable jasmine punch for several steepings, although as you go on, you’ll find the qualities of the green tea coming through more and more. While Chinese green teas are not my favorite, this is a lovely example of one.

Adagio Teas is known in the tea community for being a bit overpriced for their quality, but there are a great place for someone who is new to tea to go and learn a bit about loose leaf teas before diving into sourcing teas more directly. Their website is visually pleasing and provides good information and reviews to help you choose a tea. And the fact that they offer small samples of almost all their teas is a fantastic bonus.

NB: I was not paid or encouraged to write this review. While the tea in question was a gift, it was not a gift from the company. All thoughts are my own. Read more about my sponsorship and review policies here.

This week, I’m celebrating Matcha Week to highlight all the ways I use matcha besides in my morning bowl of traditional thin matcha. I’m promoting my Volition Beauty campaign for a matcha-infused dual-targeted hair mask, which has just over a month longer to get all the votes it needs to go into production. Help me out by voting here, and maybe share my campaign with your friends and followers to help make this product a reality.

Today, I’m talking about the homemade ways I use matcha in my beauty routines by talking about recipes for a matcha face mask and a matcha hair mask. Anyone who follows my Instagram Story might have caught me a few weeks ago being silly with a very green face mask. Spending 10-20 minutes with green goo on my face gave me a lot of time to make copious references to Kermit the Frog and the Incredible Hulk. But matcha face masks are not just for nerdy references and Instagram photo ops. I found that my matcha face mask helps keep my skin soft and clear. I already use a weekly clay mask, but adding some extra goodies just amps up the effect on my skin.

My go-to recipe is more semi-homemade than a real DIY. I take about a 1/2 tsp. of matcha and 1/2-1 tsp. of raw honey and add it to my favorite clay mask (the Cattier green clay). I mix that up, adding a few drops of my favorite hydrating toner (Klairs) if it’s a bit dry, until it’s about the consistency of frosting. I brush that onto dry skin after oil cleansing and leave it on for 10-20 minutes. Then, I rinse it off and wash with my second cleanser to remove bits of mask. The matcha I use is just a cheap culinary-grade powder from Amazon and it’s not the finest grind, so I get a bit of physical exfoliation when I rinse, so I avoid chemical exfoliants when I use this mask. And I always use a hydrating sheet mask afterwards, as is my custom when I use a clay mask.

For my hair, I like to add the matcha and honey to my favorite clarifying shampoo, which is currently the HiF Intensive Detox. This is technically a cleansing conditioner, but it cleanses well and its thick consistency makes it nice for a hair mask. I apply the mask to the roots of wet hair and let it sit for 3-5 minutes while I do other shower things. I usually apply a moisturizing mask to my ends while I’m masking my roots. Then, I rinse everything out really, really thoroughly. Of course, if you’re interested in matcha hair masking but don’t want to mess around with mixing your own, you can always support my Volition campaign (hint).

So that’s yet another way I add matcha to my life each week, other than just drinking it traditionally. I hope I can inspire you to experiment with adding tea to your beauty routine.

Hello, strangers! It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but I thought I’d make this week Matcha Week, in honor of my continuing campaign over at Volition Beauty. I only have about a month left to get the votes for my dual-targeted matcha hair mask, so I’d love it if my readers would help support me in this. I’ve talked about my hair double-masking practice in the past, and I think it would be so cool if a commercial product could be made aimed at this idea. Please head over to this link to vote for my campaign, and please feel free to share the link at your own online space. I can use all the help I can get!

So to highlight matcha today, I’m going to talk briefly about matcha lattes. While most of my matcha is consumed in bowls of traditional thin matcha, I sometimes just want a little more of a treat. Especially with the weather cooling down, a hot matcha latte is a great alternative to hot chocolate, although I still enjoy an iced matcha latte before I go to the gym sometimes.

For a hot matcha latte, I’ve started using my higher grade matcha because I find that the better quality matcha means that I can use little or no sugar in my latte. I simply mix 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of matcha powder (or 2-3 chashaku scoops) with about an ounce of hot water, and then top it with hot frothed milk. My favorite matcha for this is my Matchaeologist Meiko matcha, which is their lowest-priced ceremonial grade. This is a matcha that is lovely made just with water, but still has enough oomph to cut through the richness of the local whole milk in my latte.

For an iced latte, I could just use the same procedure as above, but use cold milk and pour it over ice. But when I’m going to the gym, I sometimes find that dairy upsets my stomach, so I’ve created a vegan iced matcha latte using high-quality unsweetened almond milk, culinary-grade matcha, and a little bit of maple syrup to make up for the lack of milk sugars. My standard recipe is to put 2-3 scoops of Matchaeologist Midori matcha in the bottom of a mason jar, and then add 2 tsp. of maple syrup and 1 oz. of hot water. I stir this together and then pour in 8 oz. of cold unsweetened almond milk (Three Trees brand is my absolute favorite, but it’s expensive, so I also like New Barn). I then cap the jar and shake it vigorously until everything is mixed together, and then pour it over ice. If I’m having it before the gym, I can add a scoop of collagen protein for an added boost. This is also quite a refreshing post-run drink during the summer.

So that’s today’s offering for Matcha Week. Join me back here on Wednesday and Friday as I share more ways I use matcha besides just mixing it with water in the traditional style!

NB: While the matchas I mentioned in this post were purchased with a discount for review, all opinions are my own. For more information about sponsorship, see this page. Links are not affiliate links.

NB: This review is of products sent to me free of charge in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own. For more information about my policies regarding review samples, click here.

A couple months ago, Anil at Koyo Tea Company contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying some of their teas. We went back and forth, discussing the teas. Anil was lovely to chat with over email, and I especially liked the clean design of their website, so I decided to give it a try. Then, one lovely September day, I was surprised with a package. Inside was a packet of sencha, a packets of matcha, and two small, single-use samples of other teas.

Koyo Tea Company sources its teas from small cooperative farms in Kyoto, such that they can try to find the best price for the teas they offer. Additionally, the source teas that are from a lesser-known cultivar that is supposed to have less bitterness. They’ve found this little niche, offering a few teas from this particular area and cultivar without the huge overhead of a large-scale tea export company, which I found interesting.

I’ve teased a little on Instagram, as I’ve tried the teas, but I thought I’d share my full thoughts about the teas in this review. I’m going to focus on the sencha and matcha, as I haven’t found the right time to try the other samples, but if the quality is comparable to the others, I expect them to be good.

Sencha: This looks like a standard sencha tea, with small, delicate leaves and an intense Japanese green tea scent to them. It is listed on the website at $12 for 1 oz., which is neither very expensive nor worryingly cheap. I brewed it with 175F water in a glass teapot for a minute, and was able to get two resteepings, steeped for one and two minutes respectively, after the first. The brewed tea is a pale yellow-green color that reminds me of some pinot grigio wines. The flavor is delicate and floral, with a hint of grassiness and almost no bitterness. The floral qualities come out even more strongly as I resteep. I found this to be a particularly enjoyable sencha and might consider buying more for myself, once I’ve worked my way through my current tea stash.

Matcha: The Koyo teas matcha at first seems like a very standard ceremonial-grade matcha. It’s listed on their website for $25 for 25g, which is right on par with other matchas I’ve bought. The powder is fine and whisks up without clumping. The color is not quite the brilliant emerald green of the Matchaeologist or O-Cha matchas I’ve tried, but the flavor is lovely. It is a very vegetal matcha, with a thick mouthfeel and body and a flavor reminiscent of boiled spinach, with a pronounced umami quality, but almost no bitterness. While I prefer more floral and acidic matchas, I did not find this difficult to drink and will enjoy finishing my batch. I would probably not repurchase this for myself, but I would recommend it for people who like matchas with that thick, vegetal quality.

So I definitely noticed the lack of bitterness in this cultivar, as Anil told me. Interestingly enough, I didn’t bother looking back at my old emails with Anil before I went ahead and brewed the teas, so I had actually forgotten that I might want to see if that was true. I found working with Anil to be enjoyable and the teas lovely, so if you’re interested in trying some excellent examples of classic Japanese green teas, you might want to check out Koyo Tea Company.

One final note: if you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that beauty and tea are my two passions. If you’re interested in see how I’ve gotten those two passions to combine, check out my Volition Beauty campaign by clicking here. I would appreciate your support by voting for my campaign. Voting isn’t an obligation to buy the product if it is launched, but it does get you a discount if you do decide to buy it. Thanks.

I posted a few teasers on Instagram this weekend, but I thought I’d share a full recap from my weekend outing to the pop-up shop of the wagashi artisans at Matsukawaya DC at Union Market. This was a relatively spur-of-the-moment outing, as I was about to head downtown to my Saturday morning barre class when I turned to Mr. Tweed and asked if he’d be willing to meet me downtown after my class so we could go to the market for lunch and to see the confectionery.

The stand itself was somewhat unassuming among the delightful chaos of Union Market, but the stunning artistry of the sweets still caught the eye. They had a display of shaped namagashi and displays of wrapped sweets, along with samples of mochi, monaka, and other sweets. They were even making fresh strawberry mochi, which was absolutely sublime. I’d never had mochi this fresh and it was amazing. It absolutely melted in the mouth. After gathering our lunch, I stopped back at the stand and spent a while agonizing over the selections. I settled on one namagashi and a gei monaka to take home for later with my tea. The lovely young lady working at the stall included a couple other sweets as service, and the nice man who was folding origami presented me with a pink crane. With my treasures in hand, we made our way home.

I think here is a good place to pause and talk a bit about wagashi. The word “wagashi” comes from the word for sweets — originally referring to fruits and nuts, but eventually including sugared sweets — with a prefix indicating they are a Japanese art. They are made with sugar, yes, but also such typically-Japanese ingredients as sweet rice flour, red bean paste, and kanten or agar. The variety called namagashi are served with the traditional Japanese tea ceremony as a complement to the bitterness of the tea. As I was told during my tea demonstration, the sweets are served and the ceremony is timed such that the sweetness is still on your tongue when you first sip the bowl of matcha. So wagashi are not only best eaten with a nice cup of green tea, but indeed they are inextricably culturally linked to tea. So it was no surprise that this pop-up shop was hosted by one of my favorite local tea houses, Teaism.

Upon returning home, I immediately started heating my kettle and gathering my matcha supplies. I decided to use my O-Cha organic ceremonial grade matcha for the occasion, whisked up in my new bowl purchased recently from a local artist. As the water heated, I opened my bag of sweets and pulled out the beautiful chrysanthemum namagashi in its little display box. As I opened it and separated it from the protective film underneath, I was struck by how delicate the sweet was. I placed it on a small saucer and made my tea. I took both to a quiet, sunny corner of our living room and sat to enjoy my little treat.

The sweet itself was quite soft, with a flavor that surprised me, given that I thought the most care would be taken with the appearance. But of course, wagashi are meant to appeal to all five senses. While the sound of this tender sweet was silence and its visual appeal apparent, I was delighted by the other three sense as well. It was a soft and smooth texture, yielding but not mushy. As someone who takes issue with a lot of textures, I found it amazing. As I bit into it, I smelled the rice and sweetness scent and tasted the complex flavors that married into this delicious sweet. It had a smooth sweet bean paste filling. And the small size meant that I enjoyed every bite, rather than becoming overloaded as I often do with a Western pastry. Despite being against tradition, I did pause and sip some matcha in between bites of sweet, but I found they blended so well together. And when the moment was over, I was able to bask in the peace and pleasure of it.

Later on, I broke into the gei monaka, a sweet made from red bean jelly sandwiched between two crisp rice crackers. I had had one of these before on my last visit to Teaism, and I knew I enjoyed it. I still haven’t tried the service sweets I was given, but I look forward to them as well. All in all, this was a lovely outing, and I encourage everyone in the DC area to take a trip out to Union Market before the 30th of September when the pop-up shop goes away.

A final note: Please remember my campaign for a matcha-infused, dual-targeted masking system at Volition Beauty. Go here to vote.

I’ve got a rather exciting announcement today. For the last few months, I’ve been working with Volition Beauty to develop an idea for a commercial version of my hair multi-masking technique and yesterday, the voting campaign went live. Meet the Dual-Targeted Matcha Hair Mask.

Now, the way this works is that Volition mocks up the idea and puts it up for a vote. If enough people vote for a product, they develop it into reality. So now begins the process of asking you, my readers, to help me bring this truly into reality.

A bit about the product idea: I’ve written in the past about how I use a double-masking technique to address the different needs of my hair versus my scalp. I brought this idea to Volition and they came up with the additional idea of infusing the ingredients with one of my favorite things: matcha green tea. The scalp mask is targeted at reducing scalp oil, while the other will contain ingredients aimed at nourishing dry length. Of course, the product will be free of sulfates, and will take advantage of both the nourishing and stimulating properties of green tea.

So, please take a look. Voting does not obligate you to buy the product, but if you decide you would like to buy it in the future, voting gives you a little discount off the list price. I’m exciting for this and I hope some others will be too.

The other day one of my Instagram friends posted a story about trying a matcha-to-go packet and being generally underwhelmed. Well, that got me thinking about the things I like or don’t like in a matcha, given that I typically spend too much and drink it traditionally (or else make a latte). I’m not really a matcha-to-go person. But then I noticed that my grocery store had boxes of Rishi Tea’s matcha travel packs and thought I’d give them a try.

Now, fair warning, these are not cheap. They’re actually about the same price as the regular Teahouse Matcha that Rishi also sells at the grocery store, which is also not listed as ceremonial grade. On their website, Rishi also sells sencha travel packs, which have powdered sencha tea for mixing into a water bottle, for a lower price. But either way, the Matcha Travel Packs are listed for $19 for a box of 12 packets, or about $1.05/g or $1.60 per serving. The packets are 1.5 g each, which I think might be a bit more than I usually use to make a standard bowl of matcha. That said, my grocery store loves to list things below MSRP, so I got the box for $18, or about $1/g and $1.50 per serving. For comparison, my current favorite ceremonial-grade matcha from Matchaeologist is Meiko and is sold at $14 for 20g, or about $0.70/g and just over $1 for a 1.5-g serving. So you’re paying for convenience, but probably not quality.

Anyway, the official instructions for this powder say to mix one 1.5-g packet into a 16-oz. bottle of water, which already didn’t fill me with hope that this would be a quality, tasty matcha. I mean, if the flavor is going to come through when mixed in roughly five or six times more water than I would normally use, what is going to be there when tasted at a more concentrated level? But I pressed on.

My first test was to try brewing it traditionally. I mean, it’s matcha, right? It should be able to be judged like any matcha I drink. So I sifted a packet into my matcha bowl. I will say, the powder was a pleasingly bright color and fine consistency. I poured in 2 oz. of hot water and whisked it up. I got a respectable amount of froth with minimal elbow grease, and then sat to enjoy it. It had a pleasant vegetal aroma while whisking. The taste is certainly not subtle, but I got notes of green leafy vegetables, umami, a smooth mouthfeel, and a balanced amount of bitterness. The reason I’m pretty sure it’s a larger amount of matcha than I typically use is because I felt a serious buzz, too. But all in all, not an unenjoyable experience. Which, y’know, for $1/g, I would certainly hope would be true.

Next, I tried it in a matcha latte. I tried in both my cold almond milk, pre-workout, protein, sweetened matcha latte and in a standard, unsweetened hot matcha latte with cow’s milk. In both formats, I really appreciated how much the flavor of the matcha came through. Especially in the almond milk latte, I need to add maple syrup to sweeten it up (because I use unsweetened almond milk) and I found that the Rishi matcha came through more strongly than my standard latte matchas. And it blended easily without and special equipment. For the cold latte, I literally tossed everything into a jar and shook it together without pre-mixing at all.

Finally, I wanted to try the matcha the way it was intended: added to a 16-oz. bottle of water and shaken together. I filled my favorite glass water bottle with water, sipped a little off the top to make room, and then added a packet of matcha. I capped it and shook. It immediately blended into a brilliant green liquid, somewhat reminiscent of kale juice. Tasting it, the matcha flavor was even more complex in this format. The extra dilution allowed some of the subtler flavors to come through, including a floral sweetness that I found quite pleasant. It was refreshing and energizing without being overly bitter and without any grittiness, even down to the last swallow. Some of the powder would settle as the bottle sat, but a quick shake or swirl got everything suspended again and I never felt like I had a mouthful of powder or sludge.

So, I would say that, all in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this matcha. I really wasn’t expecting much from a matcha that I poured out of a packet, but I have to say, this is a decent little matcha. It’s probably not the best price you could hope for, but I’m impressed with Rishi’s balance of quality and accessibility. They tend to sell their teas in local stores, so it’s not necessary to order online. And the convenience of a packet should appeal to some. I probably won’t buy this again too often, but I will definitely use what I have for travel.

NB: I purchased this product with my own money and was not given any incentive to review it. All opinions are my own.

NB: I purchased this product without any review discount, and while I am a Matchaeologist affiliate, all links in this review are non-affiliate links. If you would like to support this blog by buying through my affiliate link, click here.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram have probably noticed that I’ve become very enamoured of the matcha latte as of late. When I decided to try to cut down on my sugar intake in June, that meant finding a recipe for an unsweetened matcha latte that still gave me the satisfaction of the sweet version. Of course, it also meant that I couldn’t get by with low-quality matcha powder and rely on the sugar to cover off flavors. So I went back to Matchaeologist to try more of their matchas. I’d previously reviewed the Matsu matcha, which is like their some what “standard” ceremonial grade matcha. But at $24 for 20g, it would be an expensive latte matcha. So I went back and purchased their Meiko ceremonial-grade matcha and Midori culinary-grade matcha.

I found the Meiko matcha delightful in an unsweetened matcha latte made with local goat’s milk, but found that when I tried to make a non-dairy matcha latte, I still needed the sweetener to cover the odd flavor of the non-dairy milk, so I opted for the less expensive Midori. But, still having some of the Meiko around, and not wanting to waste, I decided to try it straight for a bowl of thin matcha. It is, after all, still a ceremonial-grade matcha.

The matcha is the same intense green color and smooth texture of other Matchaeologist matchas. I do sift it, though I doubt I need to. It whisks up into a beautiful, stable foam in my ceramic matcha bowl. I used two chashaku scoops to about 2 fl. oz. of hot water to make my morning bowl.

The flavor and aroma are markedly different from the Matsu. While Matsu smells of vegetables and the sea, Meiko is subtler, more delicate, and lighter. Meiko still has the smoothness of Matsu, but without the thick mouthfeel. And the flavors are more floral than vegetal. I actually find it an absolutely lovely morning bowl of matcha, and for $14 for 20g, I will absolutely be buying this again.

Stay tuned because I will soon be reviewing the Midori culinary grade matcha, and sharing my recipes for perfect matcha lattes.

This is a bit of an exciting outing post. You see, when I was a child, I remember a local museum having an exhibit where they recreated a Japanese tea house inside the museum. I wondered recently if the exhibit still existed, or if it was a temporary one, so I was looking around the internet. I did not find the exhibit, but I did find out that my city has its own tea ceremony association, the Chado Urasenke Tankokai Association of Washington, D.C., which holds weekly open houses by appointment.I decided to send them an email and see if they would make an appointment for me to come by, see their tea house, and learn more about the Japanese tea ceremony. I was fortunate enough that they not only invited me by, but also allowed me to take a few pictures to share with you.

The tour began at the front door to the tea house, which is on the second floor of a rather unassuming office building downtown. My host, Mioko, opened the locking door and showed me the closet where I could trade my street shoes for house slippers and leave my purse safely out of the way. Then, she showed me into the tea lesson room. We both took off our house slippers to step up into the tea house, which consisted of two rooms: a six-tatami less formal room and an eight-tatami more formal room. The formal room had an alcove with a scroll and a small flower. Mioko explained that they can also open the divider between the two rooms to make a large formal room.

She showed me around the rooms and explained the significance of the various elements, from the recreated tea garden on the tea house’s balcony, to the particular clay color of the walls. Much of the design of the tea house comes from the preferences of the shogun at the time the Urasenke school’s master lived. After that, she showed me to the formal tea house and began the demonstration of the tea ceremony.

The ceremony began with the presentation of a tray of sweets, which I got to contemplate as Mioko returned to her preparation area to bring out the various elements of tea preparation: the tea bowl, whisk, scoop, linens, and a waste water bowl. She then performed a ritual cleansing of the tea canister and scoop with her cloth. Then, she invited me to have a sweet while she prepared the tea. I bit into the crispy biscuit on my paper, and then tried the pressed sugar confection, letting it melt on my tongue, while I watched her make the tea.

The idea behind the timing of the ceremony is to allow the guest just enough time that the sweetness of the confection is still in their mouth as the tea is served. Sure enough, just as the last bits of sugar melted, she presented me with my bowl of tea. I hadn’t mentioned that I drink matcha, so I think she was surprised that I enjoyed my tea. The matcha was very smooth, both in flavor and consistency. It was eye-opening to have a bowl prepared by a true master. It was also quite delicate and floral, with an umami flavor that melted into sweetness as an aftertaste. Truly excellent matcha.

After I finished my tea, she invited me to examine the tea canister and bamboo scoop, explaining the history and process used to make these items. The canister she used for the demonstration had a flower design that was once again a favorite of the shogun at the time of the master’s life in Kyoto.

Once she had finished the demonstration, she invited me to try making a bowl myself. Of course, by this time, my feet were starting to get very sore from the sitting! But I endeavored to try the process. She had us move to the informal room, where a small tea kettle made it easier to serve the water without the elaborate ritual of using bamboo ladles. She also helped me set up my own tea equipment on a tray, making it easier to carry in and out of the room.

I won’t pretend my attempts were anything but humorous, but she was impressed with how quickly I picked up the particular method of folding the cloth used in the ritual, and how well I was able to create froth in my tea. After I made my bowl of tea, she suggested I switch back to playing the part of the guest so I could taste my own bowl of tea. After two bowls of matcha and the satisfaction of completing the elaborate ritual, I was exhilarated.

The whole experience took just under an hour and was a wealth of information, both about tea preparation, and about the context of the tea ceremony in Japanese history. What I found particularly interesting was the strong connection to the context of the time in which the master lived. Certain elements are admittedly due to the preference of the ruling shogun, not for any supposed mystical reason. I found it down to earth and refreshing. I also found Mioko a pleasant guide. It is always awkward for me to go places with the purpose of sharing them on the blog sometimes, and she helped put me at ease. If you’re in D. C. and curious about the tea ceremony, I would definitely recommend you email the association to make an appointment.

My recent experience with Matchaeologist renewed my interest in matcha and made me curious to try a real, Japanese ceremonial-grade tea. To that end, I did some researching and found the website O-Cha, where they sell high-quality Japanese teas. I decided to buy one of their organic ceremonial-grade matchas, which came highly rated, especially for the price.

I went with a decision to try a matcha that was in a similar price range as the matcha powders from Matchaeologist, but sold through a more traditional Japanese company. While the Matsu matcha was very good and interesting, I found the Matchaeologist website a bit “slick” for my tastes and I felt remiss not being able to compare it to anything more traditional. So I placed my order, and a short while later, got my package from Japan.

I chose the Kaoru Supreme Organic Matcha based on reviews I’d read around Reddit and other blogs. Upon opening the matcha, I was not disappointed. It has a vibrant green color and a light, fragrant scent. I prepared it both with the traditional whisking method and with an electric frother and tried it with and without sifting.

This is a very enjoyable matcha to drink. It lacks the heavy, almost syrupy textured vegetal flavors of the Matsu matcha, and it displays a much more characteristic “green tea” flavor. I found the flavors a bit more delicate, and it lacked any astringency, but it had a slight acidic bite that made it actually quite pleasant, especially first thing in the morning.

As with most matchas, this gives me a sense of enthusiastic vigor for life, which is why I like it as a morning drink. But the experience of savoring a cup of this tea first thing in the morning is enough to recommend it, even without any particular other benefits. I definitely would consider this a good starter matcha for those interested in getting started with the real thing, directly from Japan.

NB: I purchased this product with my own money and was given no incentive to write a review. All thoughts are my own. If you are interested in learning about partnering with me, please see my contact and sponsorship page. This review does not contain affiliate links.